Brake slams government over failure to condemn Saudi child executions

Liberal Democrat Shadow First Secretary of State Tom Brake has today asked an urgent question to the government on the imminent execution of fourteen people in Saudi Arabia, including two who were juveniles at the time of their arrests. The group were all arrested in 2012 for allegedly participating in protests. The trials were held by a specialist court, set up to deal with cases of terrorism. Juveniles Mujtaba Sweikat and Salman Qureish were only 17 when they were alleged to have taken part in the protests. Commenting Tom Brake said: “Saudi Arabia’s disgusting record of executing minors and protesters cannot be ignored. “I am ashamed of our government which is more interested in trade deals than defending human rights. "Today I called on them to stand up to Saudi Arabia and make it clear that there will be consequences if these 14 are executed. To do less would be effectively to sanction these abuses.”